Drinking fountain attachments for water faucets



March 22, 1966 w J KNlGHT 3,241,766

DRINKING FOUNTAIN ATTACHMENTS FOR WATER FAUCETS Filed April 20, 1964 2 lulu If 11H. '0

FIGURE 3 FIGURE I FIGURE 2 WILLIAM J. KNIGHT INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,241,766 DRINKING FOUNTAIN ATTACHMENTS FOR WATER FAUCETS William 5. Knight, 1032 Golden West. Arcadia, Calif. Filed Apr. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 361,019 2 (Ilairns. (Ql. 239-25) This invention relates to attachments for water faucets and more particularly to the improvement of such attachments used to direct a water stream upwardly for drinking fountain utility forming a unitary combination with an aerator.

In my United States Patent Number 3,062,542, entitled Drinking Fountain Attachments for Water Faucets, issued November 6, 1962, I have described and claimed an attachment for water faucets which performed the drinking fountain function when a transverse valve in the water stream was actuated to direct a portion of the downward water stream through the attachment into an upwardly directed spout. The transverse valve was resiliently urged to a normally closed position by spring devices coaxial With the transverse valve and an element of the assembly thereof.

In the abovementioned patent it was pointed out that the presence of an aerator separately attached to the lower end of the drinking fountain attachment enhanced the operation of the drinking fountain attachment in the patent.

I have continued the study of attachments such as my above mentioned patented attachment and have devised certain improved configurations thereof whereby better action and compactness have been achieved in a unitary combination of aerator and drinking fountain attachment that includes novel resilient valve loading means and an improved water path to the drinking fountain spout outlet which gives a more forceful stream with less bubbling or cavitation.

The improved water faucet attachment to provide a drinking fountain action conceived herein has an aerator filter disc from which there extends upwardly a flexible and resilient whip element to act as a resilient valve closure loading spring. The drinking fountain action release valve is inserted into the wall of the attachment with the manual actuator button including therein a novel spiral path generator for the water which in a manner which I believe to be analogous to turbine action ejects the water through an upward angled aperture in the valve housing. The abovementioned valve is held in a normally closed position by the flexible and resilient whip element previously described.

A further novel aspect of the improved drinking fountain attachment of this invention is the construction of the part of the unit which performs aerator action. In addition to the abovedescribed flexible whip the aerator disc has a snap-in ring element associated therewith which makes it possible to assemble the aerator to the housing from the bottom. In embodiments of this invention experimentally made a durable but somewhat flexible plastic material has been used for the housing permitting the snap in ring to be forced up into the bottom orifice of the aerator portion of the unit to hold the aerator disc in place.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an improved drinking water attachment for water faucets.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a unitary aerator and drinking fountain attachment for water faucets in which the aerator and drinking faucet valve structures cooperate to provide the several functions in the operation thereof.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide in a drinking fountain attachment for water faucets a novel aerator in which the aerator disc thereof includes a resilient whip to act as a spring load for the drinking fountain valve.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide in a drinking fountain attachment for water faucets a water stream directing means wherein water is spiraled through the means to be directed in force from an outlet therein with minimum dispersion.

These and other objects of this invention may be more clearly understood from the description which follows embodying an example of the construction of a typical attachment according to this invention when taken together with the claims and the accompanying drawing. It is to be clearly understood that the exemplary embodiment herein is merely illustrative since those skilled in the art pertaining hereto in the light of this disclosure may find other means of implementing the invention within the ambit of the appended claims.

In the figures:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the attachment according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view through 22 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a view of the attachment according to this invention looking from the operating button projection forming a side elevational view.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 3 generally and FIGURE 2 in detail it may be seen that the novel attachment for providing drinking fountain action from a water faucet incorporates basically a housing 10 apertured in the wall thereof as at 16 to receive a valve and spout assembly 144548-22 fixedly and tightly fitted therein. The valve portion of the spout assembly 14151822 includes a central rod 26 imbedded in knob 1422 at one end thereof and having a cone-shaped closure element 28 at the opposite end thereof. The apex of the major end of cone-shaped closure element 28 points in the direction of rod 26 to which closure element 28 is attached by 4 fins at right angles to one another, the lower one of which is shown at 30. A wire coil 25 which may or not be a spring is wound about rod 26 coaxially therewith and positioned behind vanes 36 and the rear end 39 of Water path opening shown at 29. A cone shaped extension is provided on the outer portion of closure element 28 which projects outwardly therefrom to make contact with a vertical flexible whip extension 27 from the top of an aerator filter plug 32 which is snappably inserted into the bottom of housing 10 and held in place by insert ring 11. The aperture 15 in the top of valve housing cylinder 18 is the drinking fountain spout outlet and communicates with the central bore 29 of cylinder 18.

Valve closure element 28 normally seats against the end 17 of cylinder 18 to close off water flow which would otherwise follow path 35 in the heavy dotted line through any space between closure element 28 and end 17 of cylinder 1%, and through bore 29 around the coils of wirecoil 25 and out aperture 15, when and if closure element is in position shown at 27a, 28a to permit such a water flow.

Housing 10 may be seen to have an upper flange 12 Which is threaded on the inside as at 12a to receive threadably the spigot or spout of a water faucet such as may be found in a kitchen fixture, or bathroom wash basin, or on an outdoor portion of a house. The lower end of the interior of housing 10 is undercut to provide an upper seat for aerator 32 held in place by insert ring 11. A series of filter holes are arranged in aerator disc 32 as shown at 33 in a circular configuration. But they may be arranged in any convenient array. Projecting from and integral with the top surface of disc 32 is the previously mentioned whip element 27 which normally pushes against the cone shaped extension of closure element 28. The extension of element 38 projects into bore 40 of housing 10 contacting whip 27.

Water flowing through aperture 40 from a spout or spigot to which the housing is attached normally flows downward onto disc 32 and through apertures 33 out the bottom end of housing 10 in the bubble flow familiar to users of aerators on water faucets. If while the downward flow shown by fine arrows 36 continues, pressure is applied to button 14 at 22 in the direction of arrow 37 valve closure element 28 will be pushed towards position 28a against springy or flexible whip element 27 to position 27a thereby opening a space between closure element 28 and bore 29 so that water in the previously described path shown by dashed heavy arrow 35 through the coils of wire coil 25 and out of spout opening in an upward stream so that one may drink therefrom. The stream will continue so long as pressure is applied against button 14.

The use of the aerator with a whiplike spring as shown at 3233-27 to hold a closure element against a seat to close the aperture in the seat has not been known before. The springlike wire coil 25 was discovered to be the only way to guarantee that the water stream out of spout 15 would come out in a stream rather than in a bubbling or cavitated fashion dispersing widely as soon as the water reached the outer edge of aperture 15. The presence of the wire coil 25 guides the water smoothly through bore 29 and out spout 15. I believe that the action may be likened to the action of water in a turbine raceway which seems to hold the stream together so to speak which gives the water sufficient adhesive inertia and surface tension that the stream remains intact for an appreciable distance beyond the emergence edge of spout 15. v

The valve portion 141518-22 which is tightly pressed into the hole 16 in the wall of housing 10 is in essence in two parts. A button with closure element attached movably positioned in a bore provides means whereby the bore may be opened to permit waterfiow therethrough; the button and closure being one element and the bore being the second element.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A drinking fountain attachment for water faucets comprising:

a generally tubular housing having a flange at the top thereof internally threaded for attachment to the spout of a waterfaucet, said tubular housing having at the lower end thereof an internally undercut groove;

an aperture through the wall of said tubular housing;

a valve tightly fitted into said aperture;

said valve including: a cylinder having a bore therein, the bottom of said bore being drilled through with a hole substantially smaller in diameter than said bore, at a central location therein, a guide rod slidably inserted through said substantially smaller diameter hole into said bore, said guide rod having a push knob fixedly attached to the end of said rod outside said cylinder, the opposite end of said rod inside said bore having a cone-shaped closure member coaxially mounted thereon, said closure member having a base larger in diameter than said bore the apex of said closure member being directed inwardly toward said rod, vanes extending from said base to said apex of said closure member, said vanes being normal to one another within said bore to guide said closure member when moving in and out within said bore, and a wire coil wound coaxially about said rod and interposed between the apex end of said vanes and the bottom of said bore;

an outlet aperture in the top of said valve cylinder said outlet aperture forming a communication path between said bore and the outside of said valve cylinder; and

an aerator disc having an array of perforations therein communicating with the bottom end of said tubular housing and fitted into said undercut therein, said disc having a lower bulbous extension for creating a water turbulence as water passes downward from said spout through said tubular housing and said perforations in said disc, said disc also having an upwardly extending flexible and resilient whip-like projection which has a first normal position in contact with the surface of said base of said closure member which is outside said bore to resiliently urge said closure member against said bore to close said bore off from any water flow coming through said tubular housing,

whereby, when pressure is applied against said knob on said rod, said rod is slid into said bore in a direction away from said knob to push the base of said closure member away from said bore thereby opening said bore to the flow of water thereinto, said closure member pushing thereby against the urge of said whiplike projection to a second position, during which said water flow into said bore spirals about said wire coil and out of said outlet aperture in an upward stream which one can drink from by bending near said faucet attachment, said closure member being returned to said first position by the resilient urge of said whiplike projection upon release of said push knob to close off the drinking fountain stream.

2. A drinking fountain attachment for water faucets comprising:

a generally tubular housing having a flange at the top thereof internally threaded for attachment to a spout on a water faucet, said tubular housing having at the lower end thereof an internally undercut groove;

an aperture through said tubular housing;

a valve tightly fitted into said aperture and having a closure member on one end thereof protruding into said tubular housing and a knob at the opposite end of said valve cooperating with said closure member on a common shaft therewith, said shaft extending slidably through a bore in said valve located centrally therein, said valve having an outlet communicating with said bore; and

an aerator disc assembly inserted in the lower art of said tubular housing being tightly fitted into said undercut groove therein, said disc having a flexible, resilient whiplike extension projecting from the top surface thereof in contact with the portion of said closure member extending into said tubular housing from said bore in said valve to urge said closure member to a normally closed position to shut off any communication between said tubular housing and said bore in said valve to prevent the flow of water into said bore;

whereby when said knob is pushed to force said closure member away from said bore against the urge of said whiplike projection water may flow from said faucet both downward through said tubular member and aerator and also into said bore and out of said outlet to the outside for drinking, said closure member closing off said bore to said water flow when said knob is released and the resilient urge of said whiplike projection returns said closure member to its normally closed position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,875,283 8/1932 Trupiano 23925 2,524,956 10/1950 Brunetti 23925 2,579,769 12/1951 Tyler 239-25 2,899,137 8/1959 Martin 23925 3,030,029 4/ 1962 Slater 23925 3,062,452 11/1962 Knight 23925 M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. A DRINKING FOUNTAIN ATTACHMENT FOR WATER FAUCETS COMPRISING: A GENERALLY TUBULAR HOUSING HAVING A FLANGE AT THE TOP THEREOF INTERNALLY THREADED FOR ATTACHMENT TO THE SPOUT OF A WATERFAUCET, SAID TUBULAR HOUSING HAVING AT THE LOWER END THEREOF AND INTERNALLY UNDERCUT GROOVE; AN APERTURE THROUGH THE WALL OF SAID TUBULAR HOUSING; A VALVE TIGHTLY FITTED INTO SAID APERTURE; SAID VALVE INCLUDING: A CYLINDER HAVING A BORE THEREIN, THE BOTTOM OF SAID BORE BEING DRILLED THROUGH WITH A HOLE SUBSTANTIALLY SMALLER IN DIAMETER THAN SAID BORE, AT A CENTRAL LOCATION THEREIN, A GUIDE ROD SLIDABLY INSERTED THROUGH SAID SUBSTANTIALLY SMALLER DIAMETER HOLE INTO SAID BORE, SAID GUIDE ROD HAVING A PUSH KNOB FIXEDLY ATTACHED TO THE END OF SAID ROD OUTSIDE SAID CYLINDER, THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID ROD INSIDE SAID BORE HAVING A CONE-SHAPED CLOSURE MEMBER COAXIALLY MOUNTED THEREON, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER HAVING A BASE LARGER IN DIAMETER THAN SAID BORE THE APEX OF SAD CLOSURE MEMBER BEING DIRECTED INWARDLY TOWARD SAID ROD, VANES EXTENDING FROM SAID BASE TO SAID APEX OF SAID CLOSURE MEMBER, SAID VANES BEING NORMAL TO ONE ANOTHER WITHIN SAID BORE TO GUIDE SAID CLOSURE MEMBER WHEN MOVING IN SAND OUT WITHIN SAID BORE, AND A WIRE COIL WOUND COAXIALLY ABOUT SAID ROD AND INTERPOSED BETWEEN THE APEX END OF SAID VANES AND THE BOTTOM OF SAID BORE; AN OUTLET APERTURE IN THE TOP OF SAID VALVE CYLINDER SAID OUTLET APERTURE FORMING A COMMUNICATION PATH BETWEEN SAID BORE AND THE OUTSIDE OF SAID VALVE CYLINDER; AND AN AERATOR DISC HAVING AN ARRAY OF PERFORATIONS THEREIN COMMUNICATING WITH THE BOTTOM END OF SAID TUBULAR HOUSING AND FITTED INTO SAID UNDERCUT THEREIN, SAID DISC HAVING A LOWER BULBOUS EXTENSION FOR CREATING A WATER TUBULENCE AS WATER PASSES DOWNWARD FROM SAID SPOUT THROUGH SAID TUBULAR HOUSING AND SAID PERFORATIONS IN SAID DISC, SAID DISC ALSO HAVING AN UPWARDLY EXTENDING FLEXIBLE AND RESILIENT WHIP-LIKE PROJECTION WHICH HAS A FIRST NORMAL POSITION IN CONTACT WITH THE SURFACE OF SAID BASE OF SAID CLOSURE MEMBER WHICH IS OUTSIDE SAID BORE TO RESILIENTLY URGE SAID CLOSURE MEMBER AGAINST SAID BORE TO CLOSE SAID BORE OFF FROM ANY WATER FLOW COMING THROUGH SAID TUBULAR HOUSING, WHEREBY, WHEN PRESSURE IS APPLIED AGAINST SAID KNOB ON SAID ROD, SAID ROD IS SLID INTO SAID BORE IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM SAID KNOB TO PUSH THE BASE OF SAID CLOSURE MEMBER AWAY FROM SAID BORE THEREBY OPENING SAID BORE TO THE FLOW OF WATER THEREINTO, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER PUSHING THEREBY AGAINST THE URGE OF SAID WHIPLIKE PROJECTION TO A SECOND POSITION, DURING WHICH SAID WATER FLOW INTO SAID BORE SPIRALS ABOUT SAID WIRE COIL AND OUT OF SAID OUTLET APERTURE IN AN UPWARD STREAM WHICH ONE CAN DRINK FROM BY BENDING NEAR SAID FAUCET ATTACHMENT, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER BEING RETURNED TO SAID FIRST POSITION BY THE RESILIENT URGE OF SAID WHIPLIKE PROJECTION UPON RELEASE OF SAID PUSH KNOB TO CLOSE OFF THE DRINKING FOUNTAIN STREAM. 